Randomness

As I sit here watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (am I the only person who thinks Johnny Depp is hilarious in this movie) and surfing the web, I am fascinated by the wonders of Statcounter. I love seeing where all of my visitors are coming from. Hello Rancho Cucamonga!! Oh, and if you are the person from Merrick, please come back! I do not have ONE friend IRL who knits! Who are you mystery knitter? You leave very near me!

Yeah, that ought to do it. Scare the friendly knitters away why don't I. That reminds me, a month or so ago I was taking a different train to work. This was back when I was knitting Ene's Scarf. A woman sat down near me and starting knitting too. We noticed each other and smiled, and briefly spoke about what each of us were making. When it came time for me to transfer trains, I did something WAY out of character for me. I wrote down my blog address, and as I was leaving I handed it to her and told her that if she ever wanted to get together to contact me. It didn't seem like she thought I was a psychopath or anything...but she never contacted me... Are you out there? I'm not crazy I swear. Was my knitting that bad? Was my outfit wrong? Maybe I misspelled my blog address in my rush. Who knows.

Today I convinced my husband to go to my not so L LYS, Granny's. Love this store! I bought 2 skieins of Noro to make a Booga Bag (and later realized I needed 3, oh well, I'll have to go back) and 3 skeins of some Wildflower dk to make a baby sweater for a friend. Sorry I missed you Kathleen, but Granny tells me you are having a wonderful time in Buffalo.

Thursday I had to fly to Florida and back for a meeting so I finished the mate to the toddler sock that I made during my one day trip to Buffalo. Traveling sucks but at least it's good for my knitting progress. I'm going to Birmingham AL in a few weeks, more knitting time! Picked up the entrelac baby blanket again which will be my tv watching project. Not on Thursdays though...I'll be riveted to The Office (she didn't marry him!), Grays (he's in love with her!)and ER (I'm in love with Luca!) thank you very much. No one is allowed to talk to me from 8:30 on. Train knitting will be the mate to the Fetching fingerless mitts. Although now that these came out, I may be sorry I started Fetchings.

*Yawn* Off to bed. Wow this was a boring post.

Contest: Who's a bigger idiot than me...

Apart from yesterday, I haven't been knitting much. I think I have arthritis in my shoulders. They ache like hell these days, and the damp and rainy haven't been helping at all. I am not one of those people where knitting relaxes me. I am a product knitter, not a process knitter, so I find the need to go as fast as I can so I can be on to the next fabulous project. Sock! Done! Scarf! Done! Next! Hurry Up! So the fast and furiousness has aggravated the aforementioned shoulders, so I gave myself a rest. Until yesterday that is. I had to fly to Buffalo and back in one day. And no self-respecting knitter would endure an airport wait and plane ride without a project. So I knit almost an entire toddler sock, which is pretty good considering I spent more time traveling than at the actual meeting I attended. Oh well, can't complain about getting to knit on company time. Even though I had to endure every flight attendants comments, including 'Oh I wish I could do that". What do you say to that? You can learn? Yeah, too bad? Shut up and get me my diet coke, we land in 15 minutes and I've got limited time with this tray table in the unlocked and non-upright position?

Anyway.

I entered this photo in this contest:

Actually, I guess I technically entered Kerry in this contest, since she did the beautiful knitting and the buying of funky shoes. Don't worry Ker, I will gladly share the spoils if we win. I knew when I saw the contest I had to enter in the "Best use of Color" category, I mean, does it get any better than purple socks and pink crocs?? The funny part is how this photo caused me much pain and suffering (okay, just really major embarrassment).

I was lounging around the house on Sunday because, well that's what Sunday's are made for. Getting up late, not showering until you absolutely have to, bad tv, good snacks...you all know. I'm wearing this kind of raggedy red t-shirt and worn out high-water grey sweatpants. (You know, the kind you've had since 8th grade and maybe even has the year right on the shirt and you only wear it to bed now because who keeps a shirt for that long and advertises it, and it's been through the washing machine the exact number of times it takes to be perfectly soft and fit just right). I don the socks and crocs, which go so FABULOUSLY with my outfit...pink, purple, grey and red..I'm quite a sight. I grab the digital camera, and go out my sliding glass door into the backyard to take the picture. My fenced in, tree surrounded back yard, so that no one can see me in this get up taking pictures of my feet in odd positions so that I don't get a shadow. I take about 5 pics and head back into the house. I start to slide the door back open and it stops.........in this position. Oh shit. Push. Push Push. PUUUUUSSSSHHHHH. It won't budge. Then I notice this: Can you see it? There was a box leaning on the other side of the glass door that I pushed out of the way when I opened it from the inside. However, when I closed it behind me, it fell back into place, preventing the door from opening. Oh crap now what. First I take pictures, because such idiocy needs to be documented. Then I pulled up the little wrought iron garden flag holder in the flower bed and wedged my arm in that little opening and tried to push the box out of the way. No dice. I tried the extended watering nozzle. All that did was get my carpet wet. I tried the metal pole from our tikki torch. All that did was get dirt on the now wet carpet. The cat meows at me from the opening and I'm pretty sure the translation was "What the F#%$ are you doing and what is with that outfit??".

Ah Ha! My mom lives down the street a ways. I could just walk down there and ask her for the key. So what did I do? Did I walk down there looking like a white trash clown or did I take off the shoes and socks and walk barefoot (just white trash)?

I went barefoot. And my mom laughed at me. And the two neighbors I passed thought I was insane. The picture isn't even all that great in the end. But I did enter the contest. Maybe we'll at least get an honorable mention for the effort. Only fair, no?

Better

Before:
After:

So I ripped back as planned and added length to both the wrist and finger portions of this pattern. Although it was definitely cute as the original, this way is just much more functional for me. I probably could have added another row of cables at each end, but I am not ripping this back again. On to number two!

Okay, Kerry, you asked I delivered. Here is a new project with the fabulous Lang Tosca you sent me. I give you Entrelac! (or Interlock as my husband says!) A baby blanket was perfect for this yarn, as you predicted.

This is a brand new technique for me and I LOVE IT. It is so much easier than it looks. Really. Right after you go and learn magic loop, you need to learn this. I read somewhere, and it's true, that Entrelac is kind of like turning the heel of a sock. You just need to trust and follow the directions, and then magically it turns into something great! I love the way the variegated yarn makes solid blocks of color. I basically followed the Lady Eleanor Stole from Scarf Style, except I made 11 base triangles instead of 7.

And the best part? I'm saving this one for ME.

You won't believe your eyes...

My SP8 Pal is Revealed. I had the privelage of being spoiled by the one and only Kerry. She was a hostess too, good thing I behaved! I am so glad that I got matched with Kerry. We've really made a connection and I am glad to call her my new friend. She is a wonderful mother to 3 great kids, and I can only hope I can learn a thing or two from her on how to raise kids right. Not to mention her sock knitting skills - amazing!! Thank you so much for all your great gifts Kerry, and your emails too. You are an amazing generous person.

Her final package was chock full of all the things she loved, that she was thoughtful enough to share with me:

Cherry Tree Hill, Catalina Alpaca (DIVINE), Artyarns Supermerino

Lang Tosca (she suggested Entrelac baby blanket, I'm thinking YES) & Melody Sock Yarn

RubySapphire Yarns in "Stephanie", Fleece Artist Mohair * Blue Face Leicester (YUM), Catalina Chunky Alpaca (AMAZING)

Adirondack Treats (mag, maple syrup, apple butter & Indian spices), Knit wash and Prespot (there's a story)

Greenies cat treats (this is the best picture I could get of the feeding frenzy, I think they liked them)

THE BEST PART: My first pair of knitted socks just for me on beautiful sock blockers. (*sniff* just the BEST). And hand made dishcloths (or maybe washcloths cause they're too nice for spills)

They fit like a dream and the Crusoe pattern is awesome

And last but not least CROCS!! Woo Hoo - Don't hate me cause I gots me a pair of funky pink crocs!! I am so cool now, just like all the kids. Also two adorable flip flop keychains (cause I'm all about the beach - in my crocs).

Thank you Thank you Thank you.

Your thank you package is in the works. Shut Up. Yes it is. And you will like it!!

A Productive Labor Day

Well rainy days are good for something...finishing very old ufo's. I took out all my yarn from it's various hiding places for the purposes of consolidating and re-organizing. It was quite a surprise to see it all in one place. Even more surprised was my husband when he walked in. He had no idea my habit was so big! I managed to get the stash down to three bins and one bag. The three bins now hold (1) baby yarn, (2) all acrylic and (3) what I dub "the good stuff". The good stuff being "real" yarn that I am proud to own (most of it from my secret pal - who by the way shall be revealed when her final package gets here any minute now - she deserves her very own post). In the mix I found some unfinished objects and I found the courage to deal with them. I frogged a couple, threw out a couple (acrylic, no love lost) and decided to finish three:

The lavender ombre one is another Pixie Cables cardigan from the "Soft and Sweet" Red Heart Book. I think the sleeves are way too big for this sweater (would you agree?), so I'm not sure what to do with it..donate it maybe. The deep pink one is the Sweater with Square Set-in Sleeves from Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss. I made this in Lion Brand Soft Baby to see if I could do it before I invested in better yarn. I think it came out great and would definitely make it again. The white one is the Wraparound Top from Crochet for Babies & Toddlers. I made this eons ago with the intent of putting it on our first child. Well our first child will likely be too big for this (he/she will probably be about 4 months old), but I'm not sure I can give it away. It is so soft and adorable I need to do something special with it, but I'm not sure what yet. Maybe I will donate it to the orphanage. So now the only UFO in my possession is a matching soaker to the wraparound top. I still have the required yarn and I couldn't bear to frog it. I am so proud of myself!

I did start to knit something for myself as promised. I've been meaning to make the Fetching wrist warmers for myself for some time now, especially since it uses only one skein of Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran. Over the weekend I got the first one done:
Don't ask me what color it is, I lost the band already, but needless to say it is a deep rosy pink. I think it came out really nice, but I'm not sure I am going to keep them as is. They are really more like palm warmers, and therefore not exactly what I was hoping for. I need them to be longer so that they help with the draft I get from the sleeves on my winter coat. And I need them to cover more finger...I really just want the tips of my fingers sticking out. So I need to frog this back to the the thumbhole and make the necessary adjustments. Of course this means this project is now double the price. Oh well, I'm worth it, right?

I am soon to start a lacey scarf with some pink (what else?) Fleece Artist Merino sent to me by my secret pal. It's too gorgeous to go on my feet. I am playing around with a few patterns, I'll let you know which I settle on.
I leave you with a Book Meme since I was recently tagged by Cozy. I read a ton of books, but I have a bad memory...but here goes:

1. One book that changed your life:
I don't think any book really changed my life..but the only thing that comes to mind is Watership Down by Richard Adams. This book was in the young adult section of the library, and being the voracious reader I am, I read it very young, like 11 or 12. I remember this being my first "real" book and it opened up a whole new love for reading, especially big epic novels.

2. One book that you've read more than once:
The Hobbit

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - romance, adventure..the whole series is so awesome, I'd want to bring them all.

4. One book that made you laugh:
Any "number" book by Janet Evanovich

5. One book that made you cry:
The Grapes of Wrath - not really cry, more like anger and frustration. I couldn't believe it ended that way after that whole big journey.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
How to know when to stop fertility treatments and get on with your life. I wish I read it three years ago.

7. One book you wish had never been written:
The last 4 books by Richard Patterson - I think they were all the same with different covers. Yikes, what happened to him.

8. One book you're currently reading:
The Husband - Dean Koontz (it's just okay).

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
The Great Gatsby - Can you believe I never read it??

10. Tag 6 people:
Play along if you'd like!